Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Back in the Darkroom

Back in the lab making platinum/palladium prints yesterday and today after a few months of enforced layoff. Here are some in-progress snaps from this morning.


Exposed sheet of Hahnemühle Platinum Rag, coated with a Pt/Pd mix containing 10% traditional platinum solution. 11" wide image area on 11x15. The ghost print-out image looks just about right for this paper, with very pale border areas.


After developer pour-on. Something unusual about HPR paper is that if you do a bunch of printing on it, without any other papers used in the meantime, the developer turns a light greenish color, almost clear compared to the dark brown it turns with all other papers I've used.


Same print in the second clearing bath.



Next two prints clearing. The first two were from digital captures, the last from an 8x10" negative scan.





Hanging to drain before transfer to drying screens.

4 comments:

scott kirkpatrick said...

The first one looks like an O'Sullivan lake, way out in the trackless West. (But with more water.)

Carl Weese said...

In fact it's the north-flowing New River, at Eggleston, VA, just a few miles from the WV line.

Unknown said...

Great work, would love to know what you use to expose your image? I'm currently using direct midday sunlight but struggling to get a consistent black out of my platinum palladium prints? The mid-tones are fine but the blacks are washed out? Any tips or guidance? @helloabwatson

Carl Weese said...

I use a light source with closely-spaced UV fluorescent tubes. The most likely reason for weak blacks is printing with the sheet too dry. Some moisture is needed in the sheet. How much depends on the particular paper. Preparing the coated sheet in a humidity controlled room, different papers may produce best results anywhere from 40% to 70% Rh. Also, even if you prepare the sheet without over-drying it, exposing by full direct sunlight could bake the moisture right out. Try exposing in open shade (north side of a building). There's almost as much UV in the shade as in the sun (the visible light doesn't matter) so your exposures won't be much longer and you won't dry out the paper.